PCR Testing on Public Places, An Early Warning System for Preventing the Next Wave of COVID-19

The need for preventing a next wave of Covid-19 is becoming necessary, as more and more countries are easing their restriction to reopen social and economic activities.

Nations in the easing stage should have plenty resources for PCR testing as their daily number of confirmed cases has dropped from thousands to hundreds in recent weeks.

The spare resources could be used for testing the public places with closed and crowded spaces, such as schools, supermarkets, public transportation and etc. PCR samples should be collected from both frequently-touched and droplets-resting surfaces.

The interval of collecting samples from a place could be coincided with that of sanitizing the place. The samples from one place might be pooled into a single sample for testing.

The testing results would serve as an early warning system for the prevention of further outbreaks. The higher rate of positive results, the more likely a next wave will occur.

We can learn a lot about the dynamic of local transmission by digging into these results. A positive test on public transportation, for example, may indicate the transmission of Covid-19 from one place to another. A positive test on a place may suggest the source of a cluster where more investigation and preparedness can be made to prevent any further spread.